Insect repellant

Problems with insects range from irritating bites to life-threatening and fatal ones. Insect-borne disease is very widespread and is not just a tourism issue. It is of concern due to the deaths in the local population of countries in the African, Asian, and South American continents and is a serious public health concern in the US and parts of Europe.

It is not just a current problem as, historically, insect-borne diseases have caused issues during military conflicts; for instance, it is suggested that in the Spanish-American war on Cuba, many more soldiers died from tropical disease than through combat. In the making of great projects such as the Panama Canal, thousands of workers were killed during the construction and these were associated with insect borne disease.

Apart from malaria, mosquitoes are the primary vector for the spread of encephalitis (variants of these being St Louis, La Crosse, and West Nile virus), Yellow fever, and Dengue fever. Other insects are carriers of many diseases, e.g., Tsetse fly – sleeping sickness, Sandflies – Leishmaniasis, Ticks – Lymes disease. Insects, such as the female mosquito, need to have a blood meal to 'feed' their eggs, and it is due to this disease that they can spread to animals and humans.

Insect-borne diseases can be very adaptable, and there seems to be a mechanism that enables them to resist even 'cutting-edge' medicine over time. Due to widespread resistance to anti-malarial drugs found in parasites in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization states on its website that the only way to be sure of not contracting malaria is to avoid being bitten.

By applying insect repellants, we make ourselves a less desirable target to insects than other human beings or animals. If there are two hosts in the same environment, be that two people or two arms, where one has a repellent applied and the other nothing, the insect will invariably bite the person/arm with no repellent.